Didn't see the SDRL dividend suspension coming. Of course this article was posted the day before the deed. The basic materials sector is behaving like a commodity market, which it is, pretty much. Many thanks back at you, txbadonetoo.

Thank you for your comments, socksycat. Glad you enjoy the dog discussions. Barron's (of all publications) had pretty good description of the current situation among the U.S. Telecoms industry a few weeks ago. They likened the battle for market share between AT&T, VZ, S, & TMUS to a cat fight. Their conclusion was S, & TMUS should merge but are hamstrung by the FCC which doesn't want that merger to happen. Mr. Market apparently thinks VZ is the best positioned cat in the bag because the price sorta kinda sometimes inches up. AT&T is still the best dividend play of the four, however.

Thanks for asking, frank 27603. I see my error in my introduction. SML refers to small, mid and large cap stocks (no nanos). I gave the definition above but did not tie it to the acronym cap letters. I might have done it thus: Small, Mid, and Large cap Global stocks as of November 17: Small cap firms were valued at $200M to $2B; Mid cap firms were worth $2B to $10B; Large caps were valued north of $10B.I apologize for your confusion.FA

No small point, txbadonetoo, thanks for bringing it up. The art and science of guessing future dividends to be paid by companies I think should be sourced for all stocks from indexarb.com. However their estimates are only available for the Dow and NASDAQ indices. This article is partially premised on future dividends and that is exactly what indexarb.com does. They attempt to predict the future dividend payments for NASDAQ and DOW doggies.

Indexarb.com says: "The "Estimated Dividend" for each stock below is our best estimate of the per share amount that will be paid during the next year, beginning on Nov-17-2014. Most companies pay dividends on a quarterly frequency; some pay annually or semi-annually. The amount, timing, and growth of each dividend is forecasted from several years of dividend history, provided, of course, that the company has an established track record. Otherwise, the most recent (perceived) dividend policy is extended."